Chennai (Madras)
Producers of beautiful hand-printed books, this publishing company is based in southern Chennai. Visit its Book Building showroom, where you can browse,…
Must-see attractions in South India
Kerala
Around 11km north of Munnar, Eravikulam's 97 sq km of grasslands and shola conceal the world's largest population of endangered, but almost tame, Nilgiri…
Madurai
What Madurai's Meenakshi Amman Temple is to Nayak religious architecture, Tirumalai Nayak's crumbling palace is to the secular. It’s said to be only a…
Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep)
Along the island's northwest coastline, the alabaster sands of Elephant Beach, a popular snorkelling spot, are reached by a 40-minute, 1.8km walk through…
Aurangabad
Architecturally speaking, the Aurangabad Caves aren’t a patch on Ellora or Ajanta, but they do shed light on early Buddhist architecture and make for a…
Tamil Nadu
Just 6km south of Kovalam, this incredible conservation and research trust is a fascinating peek into the reptile world. Founded by croc/snake-expert…
Karnataka
This leading dance academy, 32km north of Bengaluru, was established in 1990 to revive and popularise Indian classical dance. The brainchild and living…
Madurai
This 16th-century pillared hall stands outside the Meenakshi Amman Temple, opposite the eastern gopuram. It's crammed with colourful textile and crafts…
Tamil Nadu
The Tiger Cave, 5km north of Mamallapuram, is an unfinished but impressive rock-cut shrine, dedicated to Durga (a form of Devi, Shiva's wife), probably…
Hampi
The Mahanavami-diiba is a 12m-high, three-tiered platform with intricate carvings and panoramic vistas of the walled complex of ruined temples, stepped…
Karnataka
This park covers 880 sq km and was once the Mysore maharajas’ private wildlife reserve. It's noted for herds of gaurs (Indian bison), chitals (spotted…
Mumbai (Bombay)
One of the first galleries to open in culturally vibrant Colaba, Art Musings is an impressive art gallery. Founded in 1999, its has a small roster of…
Varkala
Fringed by colourful fishers' houses, 12km southeast of Varkala, this laterite-and-concrete fort was built by the British East India Company in 1695…
Tamil Nadu
Four hundred metres offshore is the rock where famous Hindu apostle Swami Vivekananda meditated from 25 to 27 December 1892, and decided to take his moral…
Madurai
Inside the eastern gopuram of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, you'll find the Nayak-period Thousand Pillared Hall (with 985 columns) on your right. Now the…
Salaulim Dam & Botanical Gardens
South Goa
About 26km southeast of Margao, Salaulim Dam is a major reservoir supplying irrigation and drinking water to South Goa. For visitors the dam wall is quite…
Chennai (Madras)
The marshmallow-pink Vivekananda House is interesting not only for its displays on the famous ‘wandering monk’, Swami Vivekananda, but also for its…
Hyderabad
The 1594 Badshahi Ashurkhana (literally Royal House of Mourning) was one of the first structures built by the Qutb Shahs in their new city of Hyderabad…
Karnataka
High above Badami and Agastyatirtha Tank, the ruins of the North Fort are worth exploring. Only the foundations remain of most of the site, but there are…
Kerala
Two kilometres south of Kayamkulam (35km north of Kollam), this restored mid-18th-century palace is one of the finest remaining examples of royal Keralan…
Janapada Loka Folk Arts Museum
Bengaluru (Bangalore)
A worthwhile stopover between Bengaluru and Mysuru, this museum is dedicated to the preservation of local rural culture. It has a wonderful collection of…
Hyderabad
Set magnificently on a plinth in the Hussain Sagar, a lake created by the Qutb Shahs, is a colossal stone statue of the Buddha (18m tall). The Dalai Lama…
Hampi
Boasts a fine collection of sculpture from local sites, plus neolithic tools, 16th-century weaponry and a large floor model of the Vijayanagar ruins. Don…
Nashik
Soma Vine Village, 17km west of the city centre, is one of Nashik's newer wineries and offers 45-minute tours that end in a sampling plucked from its 11…
Chennai (Madras)
Within this mural-covered space, Tara Books stages free exhibitions, author talks and workshops with visiting artists, and displays its own highly…
Tamil Nadu
DakshinaChitra, 22km south of Chennai's Adyar River, offers a fantastic insight into South India's traditional arts and crafts. Like a treasure chest of…
Tamil Nadu
This small but stunning temple stands on a dramatically deserted rock slope 1km southwest of Narthamalai village (16km north of Pudukkottai). Reminiscent…
Maharashtra
This group of interesting Hinayana Buddhist caves sit soaring above Lenyadri. Of the 27 caves, cave 7 is the most impressive and, interestingly, houses an…
Varkala
Varkala is a temple town and the Janardhana Temple, dedicated to Vishnu, is the main event – with its roots dating back to the 13th century, this…
Chennai (Madras)
The tranquil, flowery grounds of the Ramakrishna Math are a world away from Mylapore's chaos. Orange-robed monks glide around and there’s a reverential…
Hyderabad
This sprawling museum is in a fanciful Indo-Saracenic building constructed by the seventh nizam as a playhouse for one of his daughters. It hosts a…
Hyderabad
The ethereal Birla Mandir, constructed of white Rajasthani marble in 1976, graces Kalapahad (Black Mountain), one of two rocky hills overlooking the lake…
Maharashtra
Shivneri Fort holds the distinction of being the birthplace of Shivaji. The most important structure is Shivkunj, the pavilion in which Shivaji was born…
Hyderabad
This vast collection was amassed by Mir Yousuf Ali Khan (Salar Jung III), who was briefly grand vizier to the seventh nizam. The 39 galleries include…
Kochi (Cochin)
Constructed in 1503 by Portuguese Franciscan friars, this is believed to be India’s oldest European-built church. The faded-yellow edifice that stands…
Ooty (Udhagamandalam)
If you're interested in the Nilgiris' tribal communities you'll love this slightly scruffy, erratically open museum, with its fascinating exhibits on…
St Mary’s Syrian Knanaya Church
Kerala
Perched on a low-lying riverside hill 2km northwest of central Kottayam, this bright-white church was founded in 1550 by Syrian Knanaya Christians (the…
Puducherry (Pondicherry)
Goodness knows how this converted late-18th-century villa keeps its artefacts from disintegrating, considering there’s a whole floor of French-era…
Telangana & Andhra Pradesh
The thoughtfully laid-out Nagarjunakonda Museum has Buddha statues and some superbly detailed carvings depicting local contemporary life and the Buddha's…
Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)
Overlooking the Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple tank, the opulent 18th-century palace of the Travancore maharajas is a classically Keralan world of…
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